Method and apparatus for transmitting, receiving and/or processing control information and/or data

ABSTRACT

A method and system for providing control information for supporting high speed downlink and high speed uplink packet access are disclosed. A Node-B assigns at least one downlink control channel and at least one uplink control channel to a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU). The downlink control channel and the uplink control channel are provided to carry control information for both the downlink and the uplink. Conventional control channels, for downlink and uplink are combined into a reduced set of control channels for uplink and downlink. The Node-B and the WTRU communicate control information via the downlink control channel and the uplink control channel. The WTRU receives downlink data and transmits uplink data, and the Node-B receives uplink data and transmits downlink data based on the control information transmitted via the downlink control channel and the uplink control channel.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/477,697 filed May 22, 2012, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/538,547 filed Oct. 4, 2006, which claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/725,064 filed Oct. 7,2005; each of which is incorporated by reference as if fully set forthherein.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention is related to a wireless communication system.More particularly, the present invention is related to a method andsystem for providing control information for supporting high speeddownlink and uplink.

BACKGROUND

The third generation partnership project (3GPP) releases 5 and 6 provideHSDPA and HSUPA for high speed transmissions in the downlink and uplink,respectively. For HSDPA and HSUPA operations, a Node-B dynamicallyallocates radio resources to a plurality of user equipments (UEs), andseveral physical channels are provided to the UEs.

There are two downlink physical channels and one uplink physical channelin HSDPA. The downlink physical channels include a high speed sharedcontrol channel (HS-SCCH) and a high speed physical downlink sharedchannel (HS-PDSCH). The uplink physical channel includes a high speeddedicated physical control channel (HS-PDCCH).

The HS-SCCH carriers downlink HSDPA control information. The downlinkHSDPA control information includes a channelization code set, amodulation scheme, a transport block size, hybrid automatic repeatrequest (H-ARQ) process information, redundancy and constellationversion, a new data indicator and a UE identity (ID). A UE is assignedwith up to four (4) HS-SCCHs in a cell via radio resource control (KEG)signaling. The UE needs to monitor all of the allocated HS-SCCH(s)before receiving control information for HSDPA.

The HS-PDSCH carriers downlink HSDPA data packets. Based on theprocessing of the HS-PDSCH, (e.g., cyclic redundancy check (CRC) andH-ARQ processing), the UE sends a positive acknowledgement (ACK) or anegative acknowledgement (NACK) signal to the Node-B via the HS-DPCCH.The HS-DPCCH also carries a channel quality indicator (CQI).

There are three downlink physical channels and two uplink, physicalchannels in HSUPA. The downlink physical channels include an enhanceddedicated channel (E-DCH) absolute grant channel (E-AGCH), an E-DCHrelative grant channel (E-RGCH), and an E-DCH H-ARQ indicator channel(E-HICH). The uplink physical channels include an E-DCH dedicatedphysical data channel (E-DPDCH) and an E-DCH dedicated physical controlchannel (E-DPCCH)

The E-AGCH carries an uplink E-DCH absolute grant, (i.e., a maximumpower ratio between the E-DPDCH and a dedicated physical control channel(DPCCH)). The channelization code for the E-AGCH is signaled separatelyto each UE. The E-RGCH carries an uplink E-DCH relative grant. TheE-HICH carries an E-DCH H-ARQ acknowledgement indicator, (i.e., ACK orNACK). The E-DPDCH carries uplink HSUPA data packets. The E-DPCCHcarries transport format combination index (TFCI) information, aretransmission, sequence number (RSN) and a happy bit.

The following Tables 1 and 2 summarize the control information sent onthe downlink for HSDPA and HSUPA, respectively, and the following Tables3 and 4 summarize the control information sent on the uplink for HSDPAand HSUPA, respectively.

TABLE 1 Information (number of bits) When Frequency Shared controlchannel (SCCH) Channelization code (7) Before data transmission Per TTIModulation (1) Before data transmission Per TTI Transport block size (6)Before data transmission Per TTI H-ARQ process information Before datatransmission Per TTI (3) Redundancy version (3) Before data transmissionPer TTI New data indicator (1) Before data transmission Per TTI UE ID(16) Before data transmission Per TTI

TABLE 2 Information (number of bits) When Frequency Absolute GrantChannel (E-AGCH) Absolute grant - in terms of After rate request Dependson the power ratio (5) implementation (100's of ms) UE ID or group of UE(16) After rate request Same as above H-ARQ process activation Afterrate request Same as above flag Relative Grant Channel (E-RGCH) Fromserving cells UP/Hold/Down Following UL Per TTI transmission Fromnon-serving cell Hold/Down (1) Following UL Per TTI (only fortransmission ‘down’ command) UE ID (16) Following UL Per TTI (only fortransmission ‘down’ command) H-ARQ Indicator Channel (E-HICH) ACK/NACK(1) Following UL Per TTI transmission

TABLE 3 Information (number of bits) When Frequency Dedicated ControlChannel (HS-DPCCH) ACK/NACK (1) Following DL transmission Per TTI CQI(5) Following DL transmission Periodic (multi TTI or 160 msec as soon asHSDPA channel is est.

TABLE 4 Information (number of bits) When Frequency E-DCH DedicatedControl Channel (E-DPCCH) RSN (2) With UL data Per TTI transmissionHappy bit (1) With UL data Per TTI transmission E-TFCI (7) With UL dataPer TTI transmission Rate Request Information (on E-DPDCH) Logicalchannel ID (4) Periodic and event triggered defined by RRC UE bufferoccupancy Periodic and event triggered (13) defined by RRC UE Powerheadroom Periodic and event triggered (7) defined by RRC

SUMMARY

The present invention is related to a method and system for providingcontrol information for supporting high speed data transmission. ANode-B assigns at least one downlink control channel and at least oneuplink control channel to a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU). Thedownlink control channel and the uplink control channel are provided tocarry control information for both the downlink and the uplink datatransmission. Conventional control channels for HSDPA and HSUPA arecombined into a reduced set of control channels for uplink and downlink.The Node-B and the WTRU communicate control information via the reducedset of downlink control and the uplink control channels. The WTRUreceives downlink data and transmits uplink data, and the Node-Breceives uplink data and transmits downlink data based on the controlinformation transmitted via the reduced set of downlink control and theuplink control channels.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system configured in accordance with thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of an exemplary process for transmission ofcontrol and data packets in accordance with, one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of an exemplary process for transmission ofcontrol and data packets in accordance with another embodiment thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

When referred to hereafter, the terminology “WTRU” includes but is notlimited to a user equipment (UE), a mobile station (STA), a fixed ormobile subscriber unit, a pager, or any other type of device capable ofoperating in a wireless environment. When referred to hereafter, theterminology “Node-B” includes but is not limited to a base station,e-Node-B, a site controller, an access point (AP) or any other type ofinterfacing device in a wireless environment.

The features of the present invention may be incorporated into anintegrated circuit (IC) or be configured in a circuit comprising amultitude of interconnecting components.

In the current 3GPP specification, there are four downlink controlchannels and two uplink control channels are defined to support HSDPAand HSUPA operation. In accordance with the present invention, theconventional two uplink control channels are combined to at least oneuplink control channel and the conventional four downlink controlchannels are combined to at least one downlink control channel. Inaddition to these control channels used for high speed uplink anddownlink, information signaled on associated dedicated control channels,(e.g., transmit power control (TPC) on uplink and downlink DPCCHs), mayalso be combined.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a wireless communication system 100configured in accordance with the present invention. The system 100includes a Node-B 102 and a WTRU 104. Between the Node-B 102 and theWTRU 104, an uplink control channel 112, a downlink control channel 114,a downlink data channel 116 and an uplink data channel 118 areestablished. The channels 112-118 are allocated to the WTRU 104preferably by the Node-B 102 or a radio network controller (RNC). Thechannels 112-118 may be defined by a combination of at least one offrequency, time, power, antenna, and code. A certain antenna and powermay be used to transmit to one user and a different set of antenna andpower may be used to transmit to another user. Hence, multiple channelsmay be available at the same time on the same frequency and code usingdifferent antenna and power. The Node-B 102 may configure the WTRU 104to receive and transmit on more than one downlink and uplink controlchannel and more than one downlink and uplink data channel.

The WTRU 104 listens to the downlink control channel 114 and getscontrol Information about the downlink data channel, the uplink controlchannel and the uplink data channel. Once the WTRU 104 is configuredwith the uplink control channel 112 and the downlink data channel 116,the WTRU 104 receives data or transmits control and data information onthe assigned downlink data channel 116, the uplink control channel 112and the uplink data channel 118.

The control information may include scheduling information, packetdecoding information, receive process information and feedbackinformation. The packet decoding information, receive processinformation and feedback information need to be transmitted everytransmission time interval (TTI). The scheduling information may betransmitted every TTI or on a need basis.

The packet decoding information may include modulation scheme, a codingrate and a packet size. The information regarding the modulation scheme,the coding rate and the packet size may be combined into one parameterfor over the air transmission.

The receive process information may include an H-ARQ process ID, a newdata indicator, a redundancy version, a packet sequence number andstatus information of a transmitter. The H-ARQ process ID is needed onlyfor asynchronous H-ARQ and is not needed for synchronous H-ARQ. Theredundancy version may be used to indicate new data as well. The packetsequence number denotes the sequence number of a packet within, an H-ARQprocess at the transmitter. This is a useful parameter for soft or hardcombining of retransmission and a previously failed transmission. Thestatus information may be used for H-ARQ assisted ARQ operation wherealong with H-ARQ feedback information indicating the status of on-goingtransmission may be reported.

The feedback information may include H-ARQ ACK/NACK, a CQI of thecontrol channel, a CQI of the data channel, a packet sequence number, anH-ARQ process ID, status information of a receiver, transmit diversityinformation (phase and amplitude information to support transmitdiversity), and power control information.

The scheduling information is either a scheduling request or ascheduling response. The scheduling response is sent from the Node-B 102to the WTRU 104, and the scheduling request is sent from the WTRU 104 tothe Node-B 102. The scheduling response may include at least one ofresource allocation for a secondary downlink control channel (ifapplicable), resource allocation for the downlink data channel 116,resource allocation for the uplink control channel 112, resourceallocation for the uplink data channel 118 and uplink timing adjustmentif necessary. The secondary downlink control channel is a controlchannel dedicated to a WTRU 104 for point-to-point point services andpossibly to several WTRUs in the case of point-to-multipoint services.The WTRU 104 listens to and decodes the channel following a resourceallocation indicating the secondary control channel. The WTRU 104 needsframe alignment timing to transmit correctly in an uplink slot. Since aclock of the WTRU 104 drifts with time and the propagation delay changesdue to mobility, the WTRU 104 needs to adjust its clock based on thefeedback from the Node-B 102. This information is signaled whenever theNode-B 102 detects reception outside of a specified range.

In conventional 3GPP standards, radio resources are assigned per TTI forHSDPA and indefinitely for HSUPA. A duration field may be added toprovide flexibility in assigning radio resources so that each resourceallocation includes physical resource allocation information andduration indicating a period during which the physical resourceallocation is effective. Duration may be a continuous allocation ofcertain TTIs to the WTRU 104, or a periodic allocation of resources fora certain time. For example, the duration field may be denoted by “n”TTI where “n” may have value from 1 to infinity. The value of ‘1’indicates the resource is assigned for one TTI and the value of“infinity” denotes infinite allocation of the resource. Where resourcesare assigned for an infinite period, the WTRU 104 is informed explicitlyabout release of the resources.

The scheduling response may be sent separately on the downlink controlchannel 114. Alternatively, the scheduling response may be multiplexedin a signal packet with at least one of the packet decoding information,the receive process information and the feedback information.Alternatively, the scheduling response may be piggybacked with a datapacket and sent on the downlink data channel 116.

Alternatively, two separate downlink control channels may be allocatedto the WTRU 104, (i.e., a primary downlink control channel and asecondary downlink control channel), and the scheduling response may betransmitted via the primary downlink control channel and the othercontrol information, (i.e., packet decoding information, receive processinformation, timing adjustment and feedback information), may betransmitted via the secondary downlink control channel. It is preferableto share the primary downlink control channel with multiple WTRUs anddedicate the secondary downlink control channel to a single WTRU forpoint-to-point services or a set of WTRUs for point-to-multipointservices. The primary downlink control channel is a common controlchannel that all WTRUs are listening on. The secondary control channelis a dedicated control channel that only certain WTRU(s) addressed onthe particular primary control channel listens for.

The scheduling request may contain all or some of the followinginformation such as buffer occupancy for each service type or data flow,related quality of service (QoS) requirements, time in the queue for thefirst packet for each service, and the WTRU power headroom, (i.e.,available power for the requested uplink resource channel). Thescheduling request may be transmitted separately on the uplink controlchannel 112, may be piggybacked with other control information andtransmitted on the uplink control channel 112, may be piggybacked withuplink data and transmitted, on the uplink data channel 118, may be sentvia a separate packet an the uplink data channel 118, or may be sent viaa random access channel (RACH) (not shown in FIG. 1). Preferably, duringactive transmission, (i.e., the uplink control channel 112 is present),the scheduling request is sent on the uplink control channel 112piggybacked with the other control information. In the absence of theuplink control channel 112, the scheduling request is preferably sent onthe RACH.

For transmitting control information on the uplink control channel 112and the downlink control channel 114, the control information may beseparated in two parts since not all the control information needs to besent at any given TTI. The control information may contain special bitsto indicate whether the control channel contains only downlink controlinformation or only uplink control information and whether the controlchannel contains feedback information or other control information. Thespecial bits may also indicate whether the control channel includesbroadcast information, multimedia broadcast/multicast services (MBMS),persistent scheduling information for periodic services, paginginformation or control information for group of WTRUs.

Uplink control information from the Node-B 102 to the WTRU 104 maycontain transmission feedback information. Downlink control informationfrom the WTRU 104 to the Node-B 102 only contains feedback information.Uplink control Information from the WTRU 104 to the Node-B 102 containspacket decoding information, receive process information and ascheduling request (if needed). Downlink control information from theNode-B 102 to the WTRU 104 contains decoding information, receiveprocess information and a schedule response (if needed).

In a preferred embodiment, a single packet may be used including allcontrol Information. Alternatively, multiple packets may be used. Asingle packet contains all the downlink control information and theuplink control information needed for both, downlink and uplink. Thecontrol packet contains decoding information, receive processinformation, feedback information and scheduling information, (i.e., ascheduling request or a scheduling response). Some indication may beincluded in the control packet to indicate active information elements.

The downlink control channel 114 and the uplink control channel 112 maybe a shared channel for all WTRUs or a dedicated channel assigned to asingle WTRU or a group of WTRUs. Preferably, the uplink control channel112 is not a shared channel due to possible collisions between multipleWTRUs.

The uplink control channel 112 may be assigned to a WTRU 104 only duringactive uplink and/or downlink data transfer, (i.e., on an as neededbasis). Alternatively, the uplink control channel 112 may be assigned toa WTRU 104 even in a dormant state. Four alternatives with respect todownlink and uplink control channel configuration are summarized inTable 5. Method 3 and 4 are the preferred alternatives.

TABLE 5 Downlink control channel Uplink control channel Method 1Dedicated Dedicated during dormant and active state Method 2 DedicatedDedicated only during active state Method 3 Shared Dedicated duringdormant and active state Method 4 Shared Dedicated only during activestate

An exemplary system operation with a single downlink control channel andper TTI basis resource allocation is explained hereinafter withreference to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of an exemplary process200 for transmission of control and data packets in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention. The WTRUs are listening to thedownlink control channel 114 (step 202). Once the WTRUs 104 get thecontrol information addressed to it on the downlink control channel 114from a Node-B 102, the WTRUs 114 get scheduling information, (e.g.,resource allocation for a downlink data channel, an uplink controlchannel and an uplink data channel), and packet decoding and receiveprocess information, (e.g., a coding rate, a modulation scheme, a packetsize, an H-ARQ process ID, a redundancy version, or the like). Thecontrol packet may also include feedback information, (i.e., H-ARQACK/NACK of the previous uplink data packet and a CQI). The WTRU 104receives the scheduling information and configured the downlink datachannel 116, the uplink control channel 112 and the uplink data channel118 (step 204).

The None-B 102 transmits a downlink data packet to the WTRU 104 via thedownlink data channel 116 (step 206). The WTRU 104 receives the downlinkdata packet on the downlink data channel 116 and decodes and processesthe data packet based on the packet decoding and receive processinformation received in the control packet via the downlink controlchannel 114 (step 208).

The WTRU 104 responds with a control packet that contains feedbackinformation to the downlink data packet, (i.e., ACK/NACK) (step 210). Ifneeded, the WTRU 104 may also send a scheduling request for uplinktransmission and packet decoding and receive process information, (i.e.,a coding rate, a modulation scheme, a packet size, an H-ARQ process ID,a redundancy version, or the like), and may subsequently send an uplinkdata packet (steps 210, 212). The Node-B 102 receives and processes theuplink data packet from the WTRU 104 using the control information inthe control packet received via the uplink control channel (step 214).

An exemplary system, operation with primary and secondary downlinkcontrol channels and duration-based resource allocation is explainedherein after with reference to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a How diagram of anexemplary process 300 for transmission of control and data packets inaccordance with another embodiment of the present invention. Twodownlink control channels, (i.e., a primary downlink control channel anda secondary downlink control channel). The primary control channel, (mayalso be called a common control channel), is known to and monitored byeach WTRU 104. Each WTRU 104 receives control information on the primarychannel addressed to it from the Node-B 102, The Node-B 102 sendsscheduling information on the primary downlink control channel (step302). The scheduling information includes resource assignment for asecondary downlink control channel, a downlink data channel, an uplinkcontrol channel and an uplink data channel. The secondary downlinkcontrol channel is the dedicated control channel addressed to the WTRU104. Upon receiving the scheduling information, the WTRU 104 configuresthe secondary downlink control channel, the downlink data channel, theuplink control channel and the uplink data channel (step 304).

The Node-B 102 sends control information, (i.e., packet relatedinformation, such as a coding rate, a modulation scheme, a packet size,an H-ARQ process ID, a redundancy version, or the like), on thesecondary downlink control channel (step 306). The Node-B 102 may sendfeedback information, (i.e., ACK/NACK of the previous uplink data packetand a CQI), on the secondary downlink control channel. The Node-B 102then sends a data packet to the WTRU 104 via the downlink data channel(step 308). The WTRU 104 decodes and processes the data packet based onthe control information received on the secondary downlink controlchannel (step 310). The WTRU 104 sends a control packet that containsfeedback information to the data packet, (i.e., ACK/NACK), via theuplink control channel (step 312). If needed, the WTRU 104 may send ascheduling request for uplink transmissions and packet relatedinformation along with the feedback via the uplink control channel. TheWTRU 104 then may send an uplink data packet via the uplink data channel(step 314). The Node-B 102 receives, decodes and processes the uplinkdata packet based on the control information received via the uplinkcontrol channel (step 316). If the primary control channel allocates asecondary control and data transmission channel for a specified durationthe WTRU 104 either continuously, (i.e., each TTI), or periodically,(i.e., in accordance with a reception pattern over multiple TTIs),receive the allocated channels for the duration of the allocation.

An H-ARQ control packet for an active H-ARQ process may be sent on an asneeded basis. If the H-ARQ information, (such as an H-ARQ process ID, anew data indicator and a redundancy version), is included in asubsequent packet, (e.g., in a header of a subsequent data packet),there is no need to send the scheduling information every TTI. Adownlink control packet for scheduling information will be sent only ifthere is a change in resource allocation, a modulation scheme or apacket size.

The control information may be piggybacked on a data packet. Controlinformation, (such as, ACK/NACK, a CQI, a scheduling response, or ascheduling request), may be piggybacked with data in a data packet. Thisis especially useful when both uplink and downlink H-ARQ processes areactive. A downlink data-packet may piggyback ACK/NACK, a CQI and ascheduling response. An uplink data packet may piggyback ACK/NACK, a CQIand a scheduling request.

Alternatively, two uplink control channels may be provided, (i.e., aprimary uplink control channel and a secondary uplink control channel).The primary uplink control channel is used to send a resource requestand the secondary control channel is used to send packet decoding andreceive process information and feedback information.

Downlink resource allocation may implicitly imply uplink resourceallocation. For example, when the WTRU 104 is assigned with resources inthe downlink for HSDPA, it may implicitly mean that specific resourcesare assigned in uplink for data and/or control transmission, (such as,ACK/NACK, small data packets, and a scheduling request for uplinktransmission), The uplink data channel and the uplink control channelmay have a fixed offset in time or frequency from the downlink, datachannel or the downlink control channel, and the WTRU 104 may configurethe uplink channels based on the fixed offset.

The Node-B 102 may make the decision regarding a transmit power, apacket size, a modulation scheme, a coding rate, and an H-ARQ processfor uplink transmissions. In this case, the control information foruplink data packet is sent from the Node-B 102 to the WTRU 104 via thedownlink control channel.

The WTRU 104 is required to monitor downlink control channel. If it is atime division multiplexing (TDM) system, the WTRU 104 may go to sleepduring time slots that are not assigned to the WTRU 104 and may wake upto listen to the control channel on the assigned time slot(s).

Although the matures and elements of the present invention are describedin the preferred embodiments in particular combinations, each feature orelement can be used alone without the other features and elements of thepreferred embodiments or in various combinations with or without otherfeatures and elements of the present invention.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method implemented by a wirelesstransmit/receive unit (WTRU), the method comprising: transmitting uplinkcontrol information, via an uplink control channel, on condition that anuplink data channel is not allocated to the WTRU for transmitting uplinkdata during a time transmission interval (TTI); and transmitting acombination of the uplink control information and uplink data, via theuplink data channel on condition that the uplink data channel isallocated to the WTRU during the TTI, wherein the uplink controlinformation comprises physical layer control information.
 2. The methodof claim 1, wherein transmitting a combination of uplink controlinformation and uplink data comprises: utilizing an uplink resourceassignment for the uplink data channel.
 3. The method of claim 1,further comprising: receiving, via a downlink control channel, an uplinkresource assignment for the uplink data channel.
 4. The method of claim1, further comprising: transmitting a scheduling request via the uplinkcontrol channel.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the uplink controlinformation comprises multiple different types of control information.6. The method of claim 1, wherein the physical layer control informationcomprises feedback information.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein thephysical layer control information comprises a channel quality indicator(CQI).
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the physical layer controlinformation comprises any of an acknowledgement and anon-acknowledgement.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the combinationof uplink control information and uplink data comprises: the uplinkcontrol information multiplexed with the uplink data.
 10. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the physical layer control information comprises any ofa channel quality indicator (CQI), an acknowledgement and anon-acknowledgement, and wherein the combination of uplink controlinformation and uplink data comprises at least the CQI multiplexed withthe uplink data.
 11. A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) comprisinga transmitter, receiver and processor, wherein the transmitter isadapted to: transmit uplink control information, via an uplink controlchannel, on condition that an uplink data channel is not allocated tothe WTRU for transmitting uplink data during a time transmissioninterval (TTI); and transmit a combination of the uplink controlinformation and uplink data, via the uplink data channel on conditionthat the uplink data channel is allocated to the WTRU during the TTI,wherein the uplink control information comprises physical layer controlinformation.
 12. The WTRU of claim 11, wherein the transmitter isadapted to utilize an uplink resource assignment for the uplink datachannel to transmit the combination of uplink control information anduplink data.
 13. The WTRU of claim 11, wherein the receiver is adaptedto receive, via a downlink control channel, an uplink resourceassignment for the uplink data channel.
 14. The WTRU of claim 11,wherein the transmitter is adapted to transmit a scheduling request viathe uplink control channel.
 15. The WTRU of claim 11, wherein the uplinkcontrol information comprises multiple different types of controlinformation.
 16. The WTRU of claim 11, wherein the physical layercontrol information comprises feedback information.
 17. The WTRU ofclaim 11, wherein the physical layer control information comprises achannel quality indicator (CQI).
 18. The method of claim 11, wherein thephysical layer control information comprises any of an acknowledgementand a non-acknowledgement.
 19. The WTRU of claim 11, wherein thecombination of uplink control information and uplink data comprises: theuplink control information multiplexed with the uplink data.
 20. TheWTRU of claim 11, wherein the physical layer control informationcomprises any of a channel quality indicator (CQI), an acknowledgementand a non-acknowledgement, and wherein the combination of uplink controlinformation and uplink data comprises at least the CQI multiplexed withthe uplink data.